In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision Friday overturning Roe v. Wade, which eliminates the constitutional right to abortion, Google has notified American employees that it will allow them to relocate to another state — no questions asked.
In a memo Friday (via CNBC), Fiona Cicconi, Google’s chief people officer, reiterated that the internet company’s U.S. benefits plan and health insurance covers “out-of-state medical procedures that are not available where an employee lives and works.” In addition, Google workers can “apply for relocation without justification, and those overseeing this process with be aware of the situation.”
Google also will “keep working to make information on reproductive healthcare accessible across our products and continue our work to protect user privacy,” Cicconi wrote.
“This is a profound change for the country that deeply affects so many of us, especially women,” she wrote in the memo. “Please be mindful of what your co-workers may be feeling and, as always, treat each other with respect.”
With the landmark Supreme Court ruling, other media and tech companies including Meta, Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Disney, Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery and Condé Nast have said they will pay employees’ expenses if they need to travel outside their home state to access reproductive healthcare services.
Google lists 29 office locations in the U.S. including in four states — Florida, Georgia, Texas and Wisconsin — where abortion is currently illegal or where laws banning or restriction abortions are likely to soon go into effect. Per the New York Times, about half of U.S. states are expected to roll back abortion rights now that Roe v. Wade has been nullified. Much of Google’s U.S. workforce is based in California, where abortion rights are protected.
Google has not issued any public statements about the Roe v. Wade ruling. Susan Wojcicki, CEO of Google-owned YouTube, tweeted on Friday: “As a CEO I recognize there are a spectrum of opinions on the SCOTUS ruling today. As a woman, it’s a devastating setback. I personally believe every woman should have a choice about how and when to become a mother. Reproductive rights are human rights.”
Here’s the text of the memo from Google’s Cicconi, per a copy obtained by the Verge:
Hi everyone,
This morning the US Supreme Court issued a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that rolls back Roe v. Wade.
This is a profound change for the country that deeply affects so many of us, especially women. Everyone will respond in their own way, whether that’s wanting space and time to process, speaking up, volunteering outside of work, not wanting to discuss it at all, or something else entirely. Please be mindful of what your co-workers may be feeling and, as always, treat each other with respect.
Equity is extraordinarily important to us as a company, and we share concerns about the impact this ruling will have on people’s health, lives, and careers. We will keep working to make information on reproductive healthcare accessible across our products and continue our work to protect user privacy.
To support Googlers and their dependents, our US benefits plan and health insurance covers out-of-state medical procedures that are not available where an employee lives and works. Googlers can also apply for relocation without justification, and those overseeing this process will be aware of the situation. If you need additional support, please connect 1:1 with a People Consultant via [link to internal tool redacted].
We will be arranging support sessions for Googlers in the US in the coming days. These will be posted to Googler News.
Please don’t hesitate to lean on your Google community in the days ahead and continue to take good care of yourselves and each other.
Best of Variety
